Packer Central

Live Updates: Packers at 49ers in NFL Preseason

The Green Bay Packers fell to the San Francisco 49ers 28-21 on Friday night in Santa Clara, Calif.

Bill Huber

In this story:

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers lost to the San Francisco 49ers 28-21 in Friday night’s preseason opener in Santa Clara, Calif. We had updates all night.

Fourth Quarter/End of Game

49ers 28, Packers 21 (0:00 remaining)

Given a short field after Packers quarterback Danny Etling was stopped on a fourth-down sneak, the 49ers proceeded to clinch the victory. On third-and-5 at the 22, Kabion Ento was flagged for pass interference. The 49ers took three knees to run out the rest of the clock.

49ers 28, Packers 21 (4:26 remaining)

Danny Etling drove the Packers across midfield but the drive stalled. Dexter Williams dropped a pass on second down and Etling was held a chain-link or two short on a fourth-down sneak.

49ers 28, Packers 21 (7:58 remaining)

Brock Purdy had all day to find tight end Tanner Hudson streaking across the end zone for the touchdown. Purdy hit KeeSean Johnson on the two-point play. Hudson had the big play earlier in the drive, a 22-yard gain on third-and-10.

Packers 21, 49ers 20 (12:53 remaining)

Danny Etling’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Amari Rodgers has put the Packers on top. It was a quick throw into the flat, with Rodgers beating one defender at the 20 and staying on his feet and inbounds after being hit by safety Taylor Hawkins at the 4. Dexter Williams, in his first carry in his second tour with Green Bay, turned a 5-yard run into a gain of 25.

Third Quarter

49ers 20, Packers 14 (4:15 remaining)

Lost in the shuffle in the cornerback race has been Kiondre Thomas. There’s been no reason to ignore him. He played special teams in four games for the Chargers last season and, goodness knows, the Packers need to upgrade their kicking units. On third-and-2, he made an excellent breakup to force a punt.

49ers 20, Packers 14 (9:13 remaining)

The Packers might have scored a touchdown, but receiver Danny Davis lined up offside on Danny Etling’s fourth-down scramble. So, they had to settle for a field goal, but Gabe Brkic missed a 32-yard field goal by about 32 yards. The big play came right out of the gate. On third-and-2, Etling hung in there against the blitz and threw a pass upfield to undrafted running back B.J. Baylor. He wasn’t a receiving threat at Oregon State but made an excellent running catch. Baylor made the grab at the 28, dodged a tackler at the 36 and was off to the races for a 68-yard gain to the 15.

Etling took a winding path to Green Bay.

49ers 20, Packers 14 (12:42 remaining)

Green Bay’s defensive line has been tremendous, even with Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry, Jarran Reed and first-round pick Devonte Wyatt inactive. On first down, Jack Heflin had an excellent pass rush. On second down, Chris Slayton helped stop a run. A quick close by rookie safety Tariq Carpenter helped stop the third down.

Halftime

49ers 20, Packers 14

Jordan Love is 13-of-24 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns but also has thrown three interceptions. Love’s touchdowns, to Romeo Doubs and Danny Davis, both covered 33 yards. Doubs has caught 3-of-7 targets for 45 yards.

“Those are three unfortunate interceptions,” coach Matt LaFleur said during a halftime interview with the Packers TV Network's Lance Allan. “We had two drops and, on the other one, we had two receivers run the wrong route.”

Second Quarter

49ers 20, Packers 14 (6 seconds remaining)

Safety Dallin Leavitt blasted Ray-Ray McCloud to force a fumble that was recovered by linebacker Krys Barnes and killed the 49ers’ two-minute drill. Leavitt appeared to injure his left arm on the wicked tackle before walking off the field with trainers and into the locker room. Leavitt is the team’s fifth safety and a No. 1 on all the special teams units.

Leavitt led the Raiders in special-teams tackles last season. He signed with the Packers to be reunited with special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia. “Off the field, anyone who spends significant time around him knows how much he cares about them individually,” Leavitt said early in camp. “He cares about your family; he cares about my wife and my baby. They came out here when I signed. When I was busy, he was with them. He cares about us. He cares about us as players. He wants what’s best for us on the field and off.”

49ers 20, Packers 14 (42 seconds remaining)

Jordan Love’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Danny Davis has put the Packers back in the game. On third-and-4, Love threw a back-shoulder pass to Davis against former Packer cornerback Ka’dar Hollman. Davis caught the ball at the 16, darted past Hollman and won the race to the pylon. Earlier in the drive, Love found a wide-open Samori Toure for a gain of 23 to convert a third-and-10.

49ers 20, Packers 7 (3:18 remaining)

Green Bay’s third turnover the night turned into a 31-yard field goal by Robbie Gould. Green Bay’s defense limited the damage, though. On third-and-3, a direct snap to running back Trey Sermon was demolished by Jack Heflin.

49ers 17, Packers 7 (5:31 remaining)

Jordan Love threw his third interception of the night and his second to rookie Samuel Womack III. On third-and-8, Love tried to hit Amari Rodgers on a crossing route but Womack fought his way in front of Rodgers for an easy interception. His 34-yard return gave the Niners the ball at Green Bay’s 16.

49ers 17, Packers 7 (12:26 remaining)

Jordan Love threw his second interception of the night, this one by Toledo rookie Samuel Womack III. It was a case of two missed opportunities for rookie receiver Romeo Doubs – who had a drop on the previous series – to make really big-time plays. First, Doubs had a chance to catch a deep short early in the drive but couldn’t quite make the play, though illegal contact at the start of the play gave Green Bay a first down. And on the interception, Doubs almost made a terrific leaping catch but couldn’t hold onto the ball and it wound up in the hands of Womack. A better ball by Love would have given the Packers a first down instead of handing the ball to the 49ers. Love is 7-of-14 for 88 yards with one touchdown and the two picks. He's been OK but not nearly good enough.

The defense took Love off the hook, though. Shemar Jean-Charles had nice coverage on a third-down incompletion.

49ers 17, Packers 7 (14:54 remaining)

A turnover by the offense and a busted coverage by the defense has put the 49ers up by 10. Coming off the bench, sixth-year quarterback Nate Sudfeld found fifth-year receiver Ray-Ray McCloud streaking completely free through the secondary for a 39-yard touchdown. McCloud cut his route to the inside and cornerback Rico Gafford wound up tumbling onto his butt.

First Quarter

49ers 10, Packers 7 (end of quarter)

Green Bay was driving toward the potential go-ahead touchdown until Jordan Love’s pass went through the hands of tight end Tyler Davis and was intercepted. The ball was thrown a bit high and rookie linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball caught the deflection. His 57-yard return gave the 49ers the ball at the Packers’ 39. Amari Rodgers’ 50-yard kickoff return set up the offense on San Francisco’s 46. Rodgers broke a tackle at about the 20 to get into the clear. Josiah Deguara converted a fourth down with a reception and had a key block on a nice run by Tyler Goodson.

49ers 10, Packers 7 (4:03 remaining)

Trey Lance’s 76-yard touchdown bomb to rookie Danny Gray put the 49ers back on top. On third-and-9, Lance found Gray streaking away from safety Dallin Leavitt. Gray caught the ball about the 40 and eluded Leavitt’s desperation tackle attempt inside the 30. Gray was one of the fastest players at this year’s Combine with a 4.33 in the 40.

Packers 7, 49ers 3 (5:44 remaining)

Jordan Love threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs to convert a fourth-and-2. The 49ers sent a blitz that was picked up expertly by right guard Jake Hanson and right tackle Royce Newman. With a firm pocket, Love went deep to Doubs against fifth-year cornerback Tarvarius Moore. Doubs was clear by a couple yards, caught the ball at the 6 and scored. The other big play was a 23-yard screen to rookie running back Tyler Goodson. Center Josh Myers had a key block.

49ers 3, Packers 0 (9:07 remaining)

Robbie Gould booted a 50-yard field goal to put the Niners on the board. San Francisco – with most of its starting offense on the field – started strong against a Green Bay defense with only one starter (linebacker Quay Walker) in the lineup. Second-year linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, who is having an excellent camp, dropped Trey Sermon for a loss of 2 to help kill the drive.

Packers 0, 49ers 0 (13:26 remaining)

The Rich Bisaccia era opened with a holding penalty on the opening kickoff return – no name was provided. The Packers went three-and-out, with Tyler Goodson gaining 6 yards on two carries (4 yards after contact) and Jordan Love throwing incomplete on third down.

Two Preseason Vantage Points

It was interesting to hear the two viewpoints on the value of the preseason. For general manager Brian Gutekunst, who has to cut his roster to 85 players on Tuesday, 80 players next Tuesday and 53 on Tuesday, Aug. 30, every game rep is priceless.

“The difference between what you do out there on that practice field and then when the lights come on and there’s no coach behind you telling you what’s coming and being able to communicate and perform at the same time, that’s what this game is. The guys that make it in this league and play a long time at a high level, they’re able to handle that environment and those atmospheres. This will be the first and best test to really see these guys. Whether they have good performances or bad performances, it’s what they learn from that and how they carry it over to the two practices and the next game. You guys know, there’s guys every year that maybe don’t do much and maybe struggle in those first few games but, by the time we get to the (final) game, it all comes together and they’re in their comfort zone and now we’re starting to see the true potential of a guy.”

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers isn’t worried about the bottom of the depth chart. He’s worried about getting the key players ready for the games. In his mind, there’s infinitely more value in what happens on the practice field. Defensive coordinator Joe Barry will make life much more difficult on Rodgers and Co. than 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans will in this game.

“I’ve said it before, I think the practice reps are as important as the preseason reps. Preseason, you want to be efficient, you want to look good, but there’s almost an expectation of playing well, because it’s very limited defense usually. Now, we used to play Tennessee back in the day, they played their starters and that was more of a game-like situation, and we usually got hammered our second and third teams playing against them. But it’s a lot more vanilla on defense, so I think the practice reps going against our one defense, obviously, been very difficult for us throughout training camp.”

Skeleton Crew for Packers

Packers coach Matt LaFleur is holding out almost all of his top players. In all, 33 players will not dress list, either for safety reasons or due to injuries. On defense, only rookie linebacker Quay Walker is in the lineup. On offense, all the starting skill-position players are inactive but what stands as the No. 1 offensive line will play.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” general manager Brian Gutekunst said this week. “You’ve heard me say I want to bubble-wrap guys up and just get to the first game, and there’s a lot of truth to that, but, at the same time, getting through these experiences to really let us know what a guy can do for us this season and maybe further on down the road are really important.”

Here’s the list of who’s out and who’s in.

How to Watch Packers at 49ers

When: 7:30 p.m. (Central) Friday.

TV: The game will air on the Packers TV Network, with Kevin Harlan and John Kuhn on the call. The network consists of WTMJ-TV, Milwaukee; WGBA-TV, Green Bay; WQOW/ABC, Eau Claire, Wis.; WXOW/ABC, La Crosse, Wis.; WKOW/ABC, Madison, Wis.; WAOW/ABC, Wausau, Wis.; KQDS/FOX, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis.; WLUC-NBC/FOX UP, Escanaba/Marquette, Mich.; WMBD/CBS, Peoria/Bloomington, Ill.; KCCI/CBS, Des Moines, Iowa; KWWL/NBC, Cedar Rapids/Waterloo, Iowa; KTVI/FOX, St. Louis, Mo.; KETV/ABC, Omaha, Neb.; KNDB/BEK, Bismarck, N.D.; KRDK/BEK, Fargo, N.D.; KNDM/BEK, Minot, N.D.; KDLT/NBC, Sioux Falls, S.D.; KYUR/ABC, Anchorage, Alaska; KATN/ABC, Fairbanks, Alaska and KJUD/ABC, Juneau, Alaska.

The game also will air live on NFL Network. That will be the 49ers’ version of the broadcast.

Radio: The call of Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren can be heard on the Packers Radio Network. There’s a new flagship station, with WRNW-FM 97.3 in Milwaukee replacing WTMJ. Click here for the list of affiliates.

Related Stories

Published
Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

Home/News